Cash Flow

I wanted to share a secret with you. There was a time where I didn’t think about abundance in my business, either through creating profit or creating a plan. I know, that’s shocking and so embarrassingly true. During the growth stage of my business, if I did think of my business finances, it was after running around with my head cut-off and usually somewhere around 2am. Seriously, during that stage the only thoughts I had around cash or abundance or profit was lack. I now call that “Living in the Land of Lack”, where everything is lacking just a bit…

A good tool makes every journey a little easier. That is the same for our heroine’s money journey. As we will learn, planning is an important stage for our heroine and is the key to slaying the paralytic fear often created by the black and white of our numbers and their Medusa stare. The Story As our fable continues from last week, our heroine extends her money journey into the land of cash planning. A land that our heroine has been told is ruled by a creature known as Medusa. Greek Legend tells us that by looking straight into the…

Let’s create a little Fable where Money isn’t, well, the current currency. Let’s take a trip into a mind-bending fable today. I want you to dig deep into your inner trick or treater, and imagine… what if in our reality, candy was the form of currency and exchange? Do you remember when you traded your Halloween haul – like licorice for a Hershey’s or two KitKat bars … but let’s get more specific … What if Chocolate were Money? (A Modern Day Money Fable) Once upon a time, our heroine of this story would jump out of bed every day, excited and ready…

While working with customers as they implement their own version of the Profit First system (an intentional cash flow system), the one thing that pops up is the perfectionist tendencies that kick in as we change their money habits. What I found was that just outlining a new habit process was not enough. Habits and Implementation of Profit First When a business owner chooses to work with the Profit First system, we basically tackle a bundle of habit changes. We change how money comes in, goes out, gets prioritized, and even spent. We create a habit around how we use…

This month’s “Ask Connie series” question about Profit First even stopped ME in my tracks. Hint: this is often where a third party, one that isn’t emotionally attached to your business, makes for a helpful profit ally.. The Question: But I can’t even see how to cut my expenses – what’s your advice? Review your expenses In my last blog post we focused on how to increase our owner’s pay. As I mentioned, one of the fastest way to increase funds to pay yourself is going to come directly from the expenses your business is paying. Here are some items…

For our Ask Connie series, this month our question involves using the Profit First system and paying ourselves from the Owner’s Pay account. How to maximize the amount; address how/when to pay; and why we might “steal” during the month. The Question If I am transferring money to my personal account more than twice a month, should I up my owner pay percent instead until the business is bringing in more? I admit that I am much more disciplined in my business spending than personal. I feel like “cheating” between “pay days” actually keeps me taking less than I would…

While the king of payment has changed from paper to plastic, not having multiple options of receiving payment can be a certain death for businesses. I’ve seen new businesses open their arms wide for multiple payment options, and I’ve seen older businesses go kicking and screaming into this new world. If you want to survive and be a healthy and profitable business, you need to be aware of the tools available and develop your preferred payment processing plan. So let’s talk payment options. Death of the Checkbooks – (almost) We as a society haven’t totally killed off checks as a…

In today’s post, I’m going to dive into a lesson involving energy intention, focus, and what it means to truly prioritize yourself – especially when it comes to your own paycheck. Problem Identified: I prioritized debt before myself The problem in a nutshell, there is energy in what you spend your money ON and spend your time thinking ABOUT. By prioritizing debt, you create more debt. I know that is super crazy weird and when I tell you, just believe me – you probably won’t. The best I can do here is share my actual story with you. Perhaps, just maybe, you…

So by now, if you’re reading with us regularly, you have heard of the book Profit First by Mike Michalowicz. Maybe you even cracked the spine and gave it a quick read. If you resonated with it, but found your Negative Nelly mindset kick in, you may not have taken any forward movement on implementing the new system. Today I am going to share the five basic steps of Profit First. This is the same basic info I presented in my very first webinar, in fact, it is the same exact system I used more than a year ago. Look: just…

On my flight to LA last week, there was a funny safety presentation; this was some spark in what is usually a rather dreary monologue, so I listened intently. As I looked around, I was one of a handful of those paying attention. Which is too bad, because those that didn’t got called out by that comedic flight attention, with a simple – “for those not listening, good luck.” Which gave me a creative pause, if the plane is falling out of the sky and oxygen is lost, will you put on your mask first? Or panic and scream since…